For months on end; I had to put up with people peppering me right, left and centre with this theory of economic decoupling, whereby China would save the rest of the world from the brink of the abyss. It made me so nauseous I wanted to brech!
I just couldn't see how a country with an economy the mere fraction of Europe and the US combined, totally dependant on exports to those regions, could have the capacity to perform such an enormous feat. Then I became acutely aware that real estate in China was commanding prices that had more digits in them than modern telephone numbers and started to worry that, either I wasn't focussing right, or that I was having stroke.
Well, just this morning, my concerns have been validated. The Chinese manufacturing index came in lower than expected, pointing to a slowing economy. So I was right.
That's not the only instance in which I was right. Do you remember my post on Monday this week, when I depicted Mr. Kevin Rudd in spandex tights trying to tax the mining companies out of the market in order to pursue his social mission of topping up pension funds? I said then that if, as I suspected, the Chinese economy was slowing down, Australia would be in a whole of trouble and a made a very particular prediction regarding the Australian dollar. Well, if you did not heed my warning and you did not put on your hard hat, this morning you might not be able to see the exchange rate, because you will have no neck left. So I was right.
Sorry, I had to interrupt writing this post, because I got a phone call from my friend Moshe Kaplan. He used to be my neighbour in Houghton, Johannesburg, when the place wasn't a slum. Unfortunately he still lives there. Shame!
Well, I won't bore you with the details. Basically he wanted to know if it was all right for him to hold the South African Rand. I positively shouted at him. Moshe, I said, the World Cup is coming to an end, you have got hundreds of mines closing down, you have got the new Mining Charter, you have the trade unions demanding a devaluation of the currency and unrealistic interest rates, you have got... Moshe, you must be mishuggah! I'd rather hold toilet paper!
He was so distraught on the other side that I did not know how to comfort him. So I just whispered:
- Say hello to Mr. Malema for me!
